Post #184,809
11/22/04 1:47:41 PM
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More from the camera man
A good explanation of the events leading up to and the aftermath of the shooting given by [link|http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6556034/|Kevin Sites]. Some have been villifying the cameraman and this is a well thought out response.
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Post #184,863
11/23/04 10:22:32 AM
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Even the shooter realized he did something wrong
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At that point the Marine who fired the shot became aware that I was in the room. He came up to me and said, "I didn't know sir, I didn't know." The anger that seemed present just moments before turned to fear and dread.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I can't help but say that even at our worst, we're still better...
(Yeah yeah yeah, the obvious "he was sorry he was caught on tape". Not the way it feels to me, folks.)
--
This guy's ahead of his time! He's using quantum programming methods: in universes where invalid data is passed to this function, it does not return. Thus you are ensured that you will only have valid data after calling it. Optimally you'd destroy the universe on failure, but computers haven't quite advanced to that level yet.
-- [link|http://thedailywtf.com/archive/2004/10/26/2920.aspx|The] Daily WTF
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Post #184,865
11/23/04 11:07:17 AM
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"We didn't know the camps were there."
Is what it sounds like to me.
bcnu,
Mikem
Eine Leute. Eine Welt. Ein F\ufffdhrer.
(Just trying to be accepted in the New America)
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Post #184,878
11/23/04 1:10:03 PM
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From a camp guard? I don't think so.
I think the Marine just cracked. Too much strain. And when he realized that he shot a prisoner, he was terrified.
--
This guy's ahead of his time! He's using quantum programming methods: in universes where invalid data is passed to this function, it does not return. Thus you are ensured that you will only have valid data after calling it. Optimally you'd destroy the universe on failure, but computers haven't quite advanced to that level yet.
-- [link|http://thedailywtf.com/archive/2004/10/26/2920.aspx|The] Daily WTF
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Post #184,909
11/23/04 8:05:19 PM
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Yes. Terrified of being caught.
Look, I'm not there. I've never been in a militia of any sort, let alone been in combat. I've always hoped that if I were ever in such a condition that I wouldn't lose my humanity. But, WTF? We've got a Secretary of Defense and a President who thinks the Geneva Convention has outlasted its value. In short, the highest offices in our country have decreed, and the people embraced this notion as well by voting for them, that there are no rules.
The exclusive purpose of any militia is to kill and destroy enemy property. That is the only reason they exist, their raison d'etre if you will. Don't let the ads fool you - everything the militia (any militia, not just ours) does it does to further the efficiency of killing and destruction. That's why I never volunteered.
Maybe you're right, maybe the murderer had some thread of humanity left within him that caused him to feel some remorse, albeit far too late. I don't know. But I think it vastly more likely that what really caused him to suddenly find some humanity had far more to do with the fact that he was "caught on tape" than anything else. He was trained to kill without remorse. He killed without remorse. Are we surprised?
bcnu,
Mikem
Eine Leute. Eine Welt. Ein F\ufffdhrer.
(Just trying to be accepted in the New America)
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Post #184,917
11/23/04 9:53:06 PM
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NOT militia. Militia is NOT Military.
[link|http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Militia|Look it up]. These are professional soldiers.
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
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Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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Post #184,919
11/23/04 9:58:21 PM
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The president and the S.o.D.
may have repudiated Geneva Convention. The entire Armed Forces did not. I've been reading military blogs a lot. They teach law of combat the same way they teach tactics and weapons - it's pervasive. That Marine was not trained to kill without remorse. He was trained to kill within the framework of discipline. And that includes Geneva.
Any former military around here - am I off the mark? I never served, so I am just talking from the words of others.
(As an aside, you believe in Goodness of Humanity, but you find it hard to believe that an essentially good man under extreme stress just slipped)
--
This guy's ahead of his time! He's using quantum programming methods: in universes where invalid data is passed to this function, it does not return. Thus you are ensured that you will only have valid data after calling it. Optimally you'd destroy the universe on failure, but computers haven't quite advanced to that level yet.
-- [link|http://thedailywtf.com/archive/2004/10/26/2920.aspx|The] Daily WTF
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Post #184,938
11/24/04 8:44:07 AM
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I think you are spot on
Prisoner handling was drilled into us over and over. I agree this guy probably snapped. *Probably*. You don't shoot the wounded, you don't mistreat prisoners. Aside from being humane there are two very practical reasons not to do that. You don't want you're own wounded shot out of hand by the enemy or have your own prisoners mistreated by them. (A slim hope in this quagmire) The other is you can't get any good intel from a corpse.
-----------------------------------------
How do you convince a Washington Journalist that you're not slapping him in the face?
Tell him you're not.
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Post #184,940
11/24/04 9:17:10 AM
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Deja Vu?
>"...this guy probably snapped. *Probably*. "
From Wikpedia: [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre|http://en.wikipedia....i/My_Lai_massacre]
"...Having lost a well-liked sergeant to a trap days earlier, the soldiers were angry.
...
"The soldiers found no insurgents in the village on the morning of March 16, 1968, although they had been psychologically prepared for a major attack. While under the command of Lt. William Calley, the soldiers killed hundreds of civilians \ufffd primarily old men, women, children, and babies. Some were tortured or raped. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic weapons"
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